Gregory and the Hawk – Leche

Meredith Godreau originally coined the pseudonym Gregory and the Hawk back in 2003 to avoid being pigeonholed as a female singer-songwriter. It’s a justifiable concern – women who pen relaxed acoustic material are all too often lumped together in a deceiving act of lazy journalism. However, although her third studio album Leche proves Gregory and the Hawk is worthy of praise, it lacks the unique content we’ve come to expect from Godreau following 2007’s In Your Dreams and 2008’s Moenie and Kitchi.

Initially it seems the album relies on Godreau’s vocal and has been recorded with minimal effort. This couldn’t be further from the truth: listen closely and you’ll notice layer upon layer underneath the hazy fuzz of a guitar. Take ‘Frebeight’; brimming with subtle strings, the edition of a lightweight vocal adds to the delusion that the track is throw-away and unnecessary. It’s actually a calculated and sincere piece of penmanship. ‘Olly Olly Oxen Free’ could have been an average lurch towards Postal Service territory, but the percussion pulls it back from the brink. Far from being idle and complacent, the production employed by Gregory and the Hawk rewards the listener with a decent amount of creativity without sounding overblown and plagiaristic.

Musically, Gregory & the Hawk can hit commercial gold. The haunting cuckoo-clock meets Grimm fairytale of ‘Hard to Define’, paired with the rural simplicity of ‘Landscapes’ oozes success. Much of Leche is infectious, but a few of these tracks are so inspired and accomplished they tower above the rest and are brilliant examples of the skills Godreau has to offer.

In a drastic turn, elsewhere songs like ‘For the Best’ and ‘Leaves’ are so familiar you’ll find yourself desperately grappling for the solution to your comparative woes. ‘Puller Return’ genuinely nabs the pinnacle line from Cutting Crew’s ‘(I Just Died) In Your Arms Tonight’. After a lot of consternation, I’ve come up with three acts that share a likeness with Gregory and the Hawk: Cat Power, Azure Ray and Cathie Davie. Although none of these musicians are a perfect match, they have undoubtedly shaped this record’s sound more so than the person that wrote it. Listening to Leche is like trying to find Cinderella at a GHD advert shoot. Godreau has tried so hard to avoid one genre tag she’s fallen into two others: Zero 7 inspired easy listening and contemporary folk. The misguiding novelty to these songs has been sourced from elsewhere.

Leche isn’t the breath of fresh air others have touted it to be, but although it fails to produce something wholly new to the table, it does assemble a collection of quant and enjoyable songs. Godreau undoubtedly has talent – unfortunately she also has a tendency to rely heavily on the talent of others.